There are some things in life that I’ve learned not to take for granted.  Winter weather is one of those things.  Hard to believe that, just one week ago, Northern Iowa was receiving eight inches of beautiful new powder.  Stale rural landscapes were once again transformed into spectacular winter wonderlands.  Responding to the conditions, late

For those who abhor cold weather, backyard bird feeding is the perfect winter pastime.  You get to enjoy the daily activities wild birdlife but, instead of braving the elements, you do it from the warmth of your living room -- and without the cumbersome hassle of coats, boots, mittens and handwarmers. Winter bird feeding is as simple, or as complicated,

Pursuing the red fox is a challenging pastime.  My latest attempt at catching one was a classic example.  Following a week of cat and mouse, the sighting of fresh tracks, but no fox, was all I had to show.  I finally caught the big male on January 31 -- the very last day of this year’s season.  Since I’m

The barred owl’s signature greeting -- “Who cooks for you?  Who cooks for you all?” – would be hard to mistake for any other sound.   That distinctive call is currently echoing through winter woodlands statewide.  Although once a rare sound across much of Iowa, the baritone hooting is becoming increasingly familiar to both rural and urban residents.   Look Into

The Stage Was Set   If There Was Ever A Time to Be In The Duck Blind, This Was It Iowa’s waterfowl seasons have officially concluded.  Gone but not forgotten, the 2020 duck season will be remembered by many hunters as the best in recent years.  I whole heartedly agree with that assessment.  For me, it was the best season since 1979. Like

I love homemade stuffing.  You know, turkey and dressing, pheasant and dressing; stuff like that.  Although exceedingly popular during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, stuffing quickly becomes a never-to-be-seen food item during the rest of the year.  It doesn’t have to be that way, of course.  There is really no reason that dressing cannot be used as a main

The final segment of Iowa’s deer and turkey seasons is one of my favorite times to enjoy the Iowa outdoors.  OK, I know the obvious down sides.  By now, groups of already suspicious turkeys have assembled into large wintering flocks.  And following the conclusion of five separate firearms seasons, it’s no wonder that local white-tail populations are more than a

For thousands of Iowa wildlife enthusiasts, winter bird feeding is an increasingly popular winter pastime.  The more birds we attract to our feeders, the more fun the activity becomes.  Properly identifying those backyard visitors – chickadees, cardinals, jays and others -- is generally an easy task.   There are exceptions, of course.  Take, for example, those colorful red finches that

Sometimes it’s hard to tell which activity is most enjoyable – pursuing wild game, preparing wild game, or eating wild game.  What I do know is that all three rank high on my list of favorite pastimes which brings us to today’s topic – preparing the Christmas goose. Few flavors can match that of a corn-fed Iowa honker.  For our family, roast

With only three days remaining in North Iowa’s 2020 Iowa duck season, the morning of November 29 had all the makings of a good hunt.   Temperatures hovered near freezing, overcast skies were dark and glowering and, best of all, a hurricane wind was ripping from the northwest.  If this wouldn’t have the birds stirred up, then nothing would.     Legal shooting time

One of the things I keep an eye out for each year, is the peak migration of American coots.  Most commonly referred to as mud hens, coots are those large black birds that appear on local wetlands each autumn – often in incredible abundance.  Coots are our largest representatives of the rail family, and I never let a season

October is a month like no other -- four full weeks of unparalleled beauty.  If I could figure a way to make it happen, I’d take October, put it in a bottle and then relive the month over and over again.  For the outdoor enthusiast, there are a million things to see and do in October.